Apparently, to make a great thriller, you just need 11 days, one location, Jake Gyllenhaal as your lead, and Antoine Fuqua behind the camera. Pretty simple, right? Well, obviously, there’s sarcasm there, but that doesn’t take away from the incredible feat that is “The Guilty.” And in this episode of The Playlist Podcast, Gyllenhaal and Fuqua sit down to talk about their new Netflix thriller and the uphill battle they faced getting it made.
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“The Guilty” recently debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and is about to head to Netflix next month. And in the film, we follow Jake Gyllenhaal’s character, a 911 operator in Los Angeles, as he deals with an incredibly chaotic and tense day at the office. And in the interview, we discuss the rather strange circumstances surrounding the production of the film. For those that don’t know, a story came out that said how Antoine Fuqua directed the entire 11-day shoot in a van that was about a block away from production due to possible COVID exposure.
“Creatively, it started to make sense,” said Fuqua about directing from a van, “because I was experiencing some of what Jake was experiencing because he was locked on the stage dealing with COVID [protocols], and there’s this isolation you feel in the fact that you can’t move around…it’s quite interesting”
“We were almost mirror images,” added Gyllenhaal. “I was stuck in a chair, he was stuck in a chair. I was stuck in a room, he was stuck in a van. And I think the tension [Fuqua] wanted to create, it isolated me even more than I probably even would have [before]…The only time we’ve seen each other in person was the Thursday rehearsal before the Friday I got the news that he had to quarantine…I have not seen him in person since.”
Adding to the challenge of making the film, Fuqua and Gyllenhaal had the extra hurdle of having a star-studded supporting cast that includes Riley Keough, Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard, and Ethan Hawke who weren’t there in person, but instead played their characters in voice only as 911 callers.
“They were a shot in the arm for me and Jake,” said Fuqua. “We’re doing this thing [in-person], dealing with COVID, putting it together. But when you hear actors go, ‘Hey, that’s cool! It’s a good idea. I’m in,’ it gives you this rush of like, ‘We’re onto something if people like this want to have fun with us.’”
Honestly, Jake Gyllenhaal is an actor with a large number of incredible performances in his career, but what he does in “The Guilty” might end up being one of his best ever. And that’s saying something. In our discussion, the actor explained how the challenge of making this film added to his excitement and helped his performance.
“I really like the challenge of…putting yourself in situations you’re not used to and not expecting. And that always leads to discovery,” Gyllenhaal explained. “I’m curious in the spaces that I’m unsure of. I’m curious in the spaces where things get so complicated you don’t see a way out of them. And [‘The Guilty’] is one of those spaces.”
“The Guilty” will debut in theaters on September 24 before hitting Netflix on October 1. You can hear our full conversation below:
As always, The Playlist Podcast is part of The Playlist Podcast Network—which includes Be Reel, Deep Focus, The Fourth Wall, and more—and can be heard on iTunes, AnchorFM, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and now on Spotify. You can stream the podcast via the AnchorFM embed below or up top to listen on this page. Follow us on iTunes, and you’ll get this podcast as well as our other shows regularly. Be sure to subscribe and drop us a comment or a rating, as we appreciate it. Thank you for listening.
